I recently spraypainted my computer case. It's kind of crap. I used 320 grit sandpaper then did a primer (for metal) and then two light, one heavy layer. It sticks but if I put anything sharp to it I can easily scrape down to the primer (or even the original coating).

It's a HAF 932 case. Also, the hard drive bay is a tight fit with me using a little more force just to get the hard drive in there.

Is there anything I can do to improve this. I just painted it for...i don't know. It seemed like a nice idea but now I am starting to hate the case.

Did you sand the primer too? Also, what primer did you use? Really, normal primer does a crappy job on metal, automotive primer is what you want to use for case painting. Also a clear-coat makes the paint much more resistant to scratching and such, as well as easier to clean. Just use some Krylon Satin or glossy clear-coat (I would recommend satin, glossy looks awful unless you never touch it and clean it every week).

I did not sand the primer. I used Rustoleum. It said in a little beveled rectangle that it was good for metals.

There is a flat clear coat? I don't want a glossy inside.
Since everything is dry, how would I go about this? Should I put another heavy coat of flat black on and then the clearcoat?

Lastly, how do I go about fixing the hard drive bay. It's kind of sticky in that it doesn't slide like it used to. I have to push it in. It doesn't get stuck..it just takes a little force to get it in.

320 is too rough and will show through. 500grit is the roughest I'd go for final coat. After that, you have to prime and sand that too cleaning with tack cloth after each sanding.

For the drive bays, you went too thick leaving me to assume you went too thick all over too. The ONLY way to paint is in thin layers. Thin layers may look silly as you're laying them down because the base shows through. By the time you're on the 5th thin coat though, it does show through and the overall thickness is thinner. Thick coats lead to weak bonds and easily chipping. Thin allows it to adhere, and again saves un-needed thickness.

Satin is kinda glossy but not. More of an eggshell. You can tray to take away some gloss of the glossy by shooting it further back and dusting it. I can do it with my guns, but it's hit and miss with rattlecans.

I'm not sure about "Automotive" primers either. It's all in a rattlecan, so it's not of higher quality. Only thing I keep a little can of primer around for is for bolt head touch up after I put a wrench on them. Otherwise, it's just as crap as any other primer. Automotive paints, IMO, come in nothing smaller than quarts and need a gun to shoot. The gun gives it the quality.

you have to remember, its paint, even the best modders are going to be able to scratch it down. Rule of thumb for painting anything (or anything that has already been painted) is that its probably not going to be less fragile then your car's paint job, keys will probably scratch it, unless you chemically change the pigment of the metal, its going to scratch fairly easily. One of the things that a lot of people do when it comes to painting metal is to actually sand the metal itself, if you sand it with like 100-200 grit paper you create small scratches in the metal and expose more surface area which lets the primer grip the case and be essentially everywhere (less likely to fall off or scratch/chip) then the actual paint will likewise have a better surface to attach to.

After you sand the metal you should wash it really really really well, you don't want any dust or bits of sandpaper or flakes of metal in there whatsoever, anywhere where there was say a small bit of metal, your guaranteed to have easily chipped paint.

And for the primer / paint, make sure its recommended for metal, which chemically speaking (if its not meant for metal) means that the paint you just applied will actually increase the rate of corrosion of the metal and the paint itself.

Here is a link that will provide you with a tutorial on how to give your PC case a mirror finish. You don't need a fancy spray gun, just a lot of patience, elbow grease, sweat, and a good eye. Sometimes blood...

Here is a link that will provide you with a tutorial on how to give your PC case a mirror finish. You don't need a fancy spray gun, just a lot of patience, elbow grease, sweat, and a good eye. Sometimes blood...

Here is a link that will provide you with a tutorial on how to give your PC case a mirror finish. You don't need a fancy spray gun, just a lot of patience, elbow grease, sweat, and a good eye. Sometimes blood...

Things look different. Mods I don't even know... This reply is off topic but not a hijack. I repeat. This thread is not being hijacked. I apologize for this post in advance.

I returned recently to help the mere mortals of this forum with my 1337 [PC] powers but I see a lot of people in here are already pretty quick with answers and 99% of the questions I see can be easily Googled away. So I may use my deadly Google sniper skills to try and save those who need saving.

FYI: Don't email Steve Jobs about your iDevice issues. Holy crap I've got some crazy emails. Wouldn't it be nice to just use a Bluetooth earpiece with your iPod Touch to make wi-fi Skype calls or whatever? Even if the Bluetooth chip in the 2G iPod Touch isn't fully compatible that long thin female connector on the bottom of the iPod Touch would certainly be able to hold and transmit from a tiny Bluetooth dongle. JawBone thought the idea was cool and simple yet no such device exists to this day. I know it could easily be done! Apple would give me an executive response that didn't have anything to do with the issue. They did however feel it urgent that I call them. I declined, preferring email correspondence. Stepping on Steve's toes I've come to find out is definitely an interesting thing to do.

Being that this is a PC forum I will not bash MS in THIS post but damn I've got some funny emails from them also.

Nothing exciting happens around here anymore. You'll probably be able to count names you recognize on one hand that are still active from the old days. Never thought I would have seen you pop in after all that time. lol

Nothing exciting happens around here anymore. You'll probably be able to count names you recognize on one hand that are still active from the old days. Never thought I would have seen you pop in after all that time. lol

I see that. Where did all the old school people go? I miss the good old days of modding our 80486 self built PCs. The cases back in the day were awesome! Sheet metal, screws, and Krylon! Modding those cases meant spilling blood. Frick, just building in those razor blade cases was a pain. Not like these screw less mod friendly cases nowadays and fancy Dupli-Color paint. Kids today have it too easy...

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